... plays havoc, there is no time to waste. It is a valuable guide to battle, so arranged that, finding, for instance, that the asparagus has rust spot (as surely it will have), we can discover instantly what to do. No longer need we believe those highly trained ...

... A Child's Garden of Curses (Heinemann. 12s. 6d.). I know that tastes in humour and wit are more personal than tastes in asparagus, oysters or painting, but (probably because I can't leave well alone) I must tell you that I think this volume remarkably ...

... and so are the autobiographical glimpses, and the vignettes of the father nimbly arranging a twist of bread-and-butter and asparagus, or mother pursuing a child with a chicken patty or a glass of sherry to stave off any sinking feeling between meals. Altogether ...